Measuring Time Preferences
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For Better Or for Worse: Default Effects and 401(K) Savings Behavior
This PDF is a selection from a published volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research Volume Title: Perspectives on the Economics of Aging Volume Author/Editor: David A. Wise, editor Volume Publisher: University of Chicago Press Volume ISBN: 0-226-90305-2 Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/wise04-1 Conference Date: May 17-20, 2001 Publication Date: June 2004 Title: For Better or for Worse: Default Effects and 401(k) Savings Behavior Author: James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, Andrew Metrick URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c10341 2 For Better or for Worse Default Effects and 401(k) Savings Behavior James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Andrew Metrick 2.1 Introduction Seemingly minor changes in the way a choice is framed to a decision maker can generate dramatic changes in behavior. Automatic enrollment provides a clear example of such effects. Under automatic enrollment (also called negative election), employees are automatically enrolled in their company’s 401(k) plan unless the employees elect to opt out of the plan. This contrasts with the usual arrangement in which employees must ac- tively choose to participate in their employer’s 401(k). Standard economic theory predicts that automatic enrollment should not influence the employee’s saving decision, because automatic enroll- ment does not change the economic fundamentals of the planning prob- lem. But several studies and anecdotal accounts suggest that automatic enrollment has succeeded in dramatically increasing 401(k) participa- James J. Choi is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at Harvard University. David Laibson is professor of economics at Harvard University and a research associate of the National Bu- reau of Economic Research. -
Brigitte C. Madrian Curriculum Vitae February 2016
BRIGITTE C. MADRIAN CURRICULUM VITAE FEBRUARY 2016 CONTACT INFORMATION Harvard Kennedy School Phone: (617) 495-8917 Harvard University Fax: (617) 496-5960 79 John F. Kennedy Street e-mail: [email protected] Cambridge, MA 02138 EDUCATION 1993 Ph.D., Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 1989 M.A., Economics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 1989 B.A., Economics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT CURRENT POSITIONS/AFFILIATIONS 2006-present Aetna Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 2016-present Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Academic Research Council 2016-present Vestigo Ventures Advisory Board 2015-present Editor, Review of Economics and Statistics 2015-present DoubleNet Pay Advisory Board 2014-present FINRA Board of Governors 2014-present Bipartisan Policy Center Personal Savings Initiative (commission member) 2013-present American Economic Association Committee on Economic Education 2013-present Center for Financial Studies (CFS) Research Advisory Council for the Center for Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe (SAFE) 2010-present Co-director, NBER Working Group on Household Finance 2010-present SSRN Household Finance eJournal Advisory Board 2010-present Wheatley Institution Fellow, Brigham Young University 2009-present Sloan/Sage Behavioral Economics and Consumer Finance Working Group 2007-present National Academy of Social Insurance 2010-present Editorial board, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance 2005-present -
Arxiv:1705.10602V2 [Math.OC] 22 Apr 2020 Time-Consistent Investment and Consumption Strategies Under a General Discount Functi
Time-consistent investment and consumption strategies under a general discount function I. Alia ∗ F. Chighoub † N. Khelfallah ‡ J. Vives § April 23, 2020 Abstract In the present paper we investigate the Merton portfolio management problem in the context of non-exponential discounting, a context that give rise to time-inconsistency of the decision maker. We consider equilibrium policies within the class of open-loop controls, that are characterized, in our context, by means of a variational method which leads to a stochastic system that consists of a flow of forward-backward stochas- tic differential equations and an equilibrium condition. An explicit representation of the equilibrium policies is provided for the special cases of power, logarithmic and exponential utility functions. Keys words: Stochastic Optimization, Investment-Consumption Problem, Merton Port- folio Problem, Non-Exponential Discounting, Time Inconsistency, Equilibrium Strategies, Stochastic Maximum Principle. MSC 2010 subject classifications, 93E20, 60H30, 93E99, 60H10. 1 Introduction Background The common assumption in classical investment-consumption problems under discounted utility is that the discount rate is assumed to be constant over time which leads to the dis- arXiv:1705.10602v2 [math.OC] 22 Apr 2020 count function be exponential. This assumption provides the possibility to compare outcomes occurring at different times by discounting future utility by some constant factor. But on the other hand, results from experimental studies contradict this assumption indicating that dis- count rates for the near future are much lower than discount rates for the time further away in future. Ainslie, in [1], established experimental studies on human and animal behaviour ∗Laboratory of Applied Mathematics, University Mohamed Khider, Po. -
David Laibson RAND Summer 2006
David Laibson RAND Summer 2006 All readings are recommended. Starred readings will be particularly useful complements for the lecture. George Akerlof "Procastination and Obedience," The Richard T. Ely Lecture, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 1991. *George-Marios Angeletos, David Laibson, Andrea Repetto, Jeremy Tobacman and Stephen Weinberg,“The Hyperbolic Consumption Model: Calibration, Simulation, and Empirical Evaluation ” Journal of Economic Perspectives, August 2001, pp. 47-68. Shlomo Benartzi and Richard H. Thaler "How Much Is Investor Autonomy Worth?" Journal of Finance, 2002, 57(4), pp. 1593-616. Camerer, Colin F., George Loewenstein and Drazen Prelec. Mar. 2005. "Neuroeconomics: How neuroscience can inform economics." Journal of Economic Literature. Vol. 34, No. 1. Colin Camerer, Samuel Issacharoff, George Loewenstein, Ted O'Donoghue, and Matthew Rabin. Jan 2003. "Regulation for Conservatives: Behavioral Economics and the Case for 'Assymetric Paternalism.'" University of Pennsylvania Law Review. 151, 1211- 1254. *James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian. $100 Bills on the Sidewalk: Suboptimal Saving in 401(k) Plans July 16, 2005. *James Choi, Brigitte Madrian, David Laibson, and Andrew Metrick. Optimal Defaults and Active Decisions December 3, 2004. James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian “Are Education and Empowerment Enough? Under-Diversification in 401(k) Plans” forthcoming, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. *James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick “Optimal Defaults” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, May 2003, pp. 180-185. Dominique J.-F. de Quervain, Urs Fischbacher, Valerie Treyer, Melanie Schellhammer, Ulrich Schnyder, Alfred Buck, Ernst Fehr. The Neural Basis of Altruistic Punishment Science 305, 27 August 2004, 1254-1258 Shane Frederick, George Loewenstein, and O'Donoghue, T. -
The Role of Time Preference on Wealth
THE ROLE OF TIME PREFERENCE ON WEALTH _______________________________________ A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science _____________________________________________________ by ANDREW MARK ZUMWALT Dr. Deanna L. Sharpe, Thesis Co-Supervisor Dr. Sandra J. Huston, Thesis Co-Supervisor December 2008 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled THE ROLE OF TIME PREFERENCE ON WEALTH presented by Andrew Mark Zumwalt, a candidate for the degree of master of science, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Deanna L. Sharpe Professor Sandra J. Huston Professor Thomas Johnson ad maiorem dei gloriam ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All throughout my life, I have been supported by strong individuals. These people have been the pillars of my success, and without their influence and guidance, I would be nowhere near where I am now. I can only hope that I have, in turn, enriched their lives. I aspire to fulfill a similar role for the young men and women I meet. While I believe that my success has been caused by the cumulative efforts of many individuals, I would like to take this limited space to thank those that have helped with this part of my life. First, I would like to thank the members of my committee. Dr Thomas Johnson’s experience from agricultural economics provided insight into overlooked ideas in my research when viewed in a broader context. He has also been extremely understanding with regard to interesting timetables, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning from him in both inside and outside the classroom. -
Hyperbolic Discounting and Learning Over Multiple Horizons
HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING AND LEARNING OVER MULTIPLE HORIZONS William Fedus Carles Gelada Yoshua Bengio Google Brain Google Brain University of Montreal (Mila) University of Montreal (Mila) [email protected] CIFAR Senior Fellow [email protected] [email protected] Marc G. Bellemare Hugo Larochelle Google Brain Google Brain [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Reinforcement learning (RL) typically defines a discount factor (γ) as part of the Markov Decision Process. The discount factor values future rewards by an exponential scheme that leads to theoretical convergence guarantees of the Bellman equation. However, evidence from psychology, economics and neuroscience sug- 1 gests that humans and animals instead have hyperbolic time-preferences ( 1+kt for k > 0). In this work we revisit the fundamentals of discounting in RL and bridge this disconnect by implementing an RL agent that acts via hyperbolic discount- ing. We demonstrate that a simple approach approximates hyperbolic discount functions while still using familiar temporal-difference learning techniques in RL. Additionally, and independent of hyperbolic discounting, we make a surprising discovery that simultaneously learning value functions over multiple time-horizons is an effective auxiliary task which often improves over a strong value-based RL agent, Rainbow. 1 INTRODUCTION The standard treatment of the reinforcement learning (RL) problem is the Markov Decision Process (MDP) which includes a discount factor 0 ≤ γ < 1 that exponentially reduces the present value of future rewards (Bellman, 1957; Sutton & Barto, 1998). A reward rt received in t-time steps is t devalued to γ rt, a discounted utility model introduced by Samuelson (1937). This establishes a time- preference for rewards realized sooner rather than later. -
Intertemporal Consumption and Savings Behavior: Neoclassical, Behavioral, and Neuroeconomic Approaches
Intertemporal Consumption and Savings Behavior: Neoclassical, Behavioral, and Neuroeconomic Approaches Joshua J. Kim June 2014 Abstract This paper summarizes neoclassical, behavioral, and neuroeconomic models of intertemporal consumption and savings behavior. I summarize the construction and implications of Modigliani & Brumberg's Life-Cycle Hypothesis [4] and Laibson's quasi-hyperbolic consumption function [8] as background and motivation for Bisin & Benhabib's neuroeconomic model of dynamic consumption behavior [3]. In particular, I focus on the mathe- matical construction of each model, their different behavioral assumptions of agent rationality, and the resulting implications for economic theory. 1 The Neoclassical Life-Cycle Hypothesis The development of modern economic theories analyzing intertemporal consumption began in the early 1950s with the publication of Modigliani & Brumberg's Life-cycle Hypothesis (LCH) [4]. By making several arguably innocuous assumptions, Modigliani & Brumberg produce several important and non-trival predictions about macroeconomic processes such as the relationship in aggregate economics between savings and growth. Furthermore, since its construction, the LCH has served as the standard economic approach to the study of consumption and savings behavior and has served as a foundational basis for subsequent models of intertemporal consumption. The structure of the rest of this chapter is as follows: subsection 1.1 presents the theoretical foundations and assumptions of the LCH. Subsection 1.2 discusses some of the implications and results. Subsection 1.3 concludes the discussion on neoclassical models of intertemporal consumption and discusses several objections and limitations of the LCH. 1 1.1 Theoretical Foundations Before we begin the construction of the life-cycle hypothesis, let us first define a few terms that readers unfamiliar with economic theory may not know. -
The Geographies of Soft Paternalism in the UK: the Rise of the Avuncular State and Changing Behaviour After Neoliberalism
The Geographies of Soft Paternalism in the UK: the rise of the avuncular state and changing behaviour after neoliberalism Rhys Jones, Jessica Pykett and Mark Whitehead, Aberystwyth University Forthcoming, Geography Compass Abstract Soft paternalism or libertarian paternalism has emerged as a new rationality of governing in the UK under New Labour, denoting a style of governing which is aimed at both increasing choice and ensuring welfare. Popularised in Thaler and Sunstein’s best-selling title, Nudge, the approach of libertarian paternalism poses new questions for critical human geographers interested in how the philosophies and practices of the Third Way are being adapted and developed in a range of public policy spheres, including the environment, personal finance and health policy. Focusing specifically on the case of the UK, this article charts how soft paternalism appeals to the intellectual influences of behavioural economics, psychology and the neurosciences, amongst others, to justify government interventions based on the ‘non-ideal’ or irrational citizen. By identifying the distinctive mechanisms associated with this ‘behaviour change’ agenda, such as ‘choice architecture’, we explore the contribution of behavioural geographies and political geographies of the state to further understanding of the techniques and rationalities of governing. 1 The Geographies of Soft Paternalism: the rise of the avuncular state and changing behaviour after neoliberalism 1. Introduction: The Chicago School comes to Britain Mark II. On March 24 2009, David Cameron stood next to the eminent behavioural economist Richard Thaler at the London Stock Exchange. David Cameron was in the City of London to deliver his keynote speech on banking reform and the Tory’s response to the credit crunch. -
Subsidizing Health Insurance for Low-Income Adults: Evidence from Massachusetts: Dataset.” American Economic Review
American Economic Review 2019, 109(4): 1530–1567 https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20171455 Subsidizing Health Insurance for Low-Income Adults: Evidence from Massachusetts† By Amy Finkelstein, Nathaniel Hendren, and Mark Shepard* How much are low-income individuals willing to pay for health insurance, and what are the implications for insurance markets? Using administrative data from Massachusetts’ subsidized insurance exchange, we exploit discontinuities in the subsidy schedule to esti- mate willingness to pay and costs of insurance among low-income adults. As subsidies decline, insurance take-up falls rapidly, drop- ping about 25 percent for each $40 increase in monthly enrollee pre- miums. Marginal enrollees tend to be lower-cost , indicating adverse selection into insurance. But across the entire distribution we can observe approximately the bottom 70 percent of the willingness to pay distribution( enrollees’ willingness to pay is always less than half of their own) expected costs that they impose on the insurer. As a result, we estimate that take-up will be highly incomplete even with generous subsidies. If enrollee premiums were 25 percent of insur- ers’ average costs, at most half of potential enrollees would buy insurance; even premiums subsidized to 10 percent of average costs would still leave at least 20 percent uninsured. We briefly consider potential explanations for these findings and their normative impli- cations. JEL G22, H51, H75, I13, I18 ( ) Governments spend an enormous amount of money on health insurance for low-income -
Still Preliminary and Incomplete
EQUALIZING SUPERSTARS: THE INTERNET AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF EDUCATION DARON ACEMOGLU, DAVID LAIBSON, AND JOHN A. LIST Abstract. Educational resources distributed via the Internet are rapidly proliferating. One prominent concern associated with these potentially transformative developments is that, as many of the leading technologies of the last several decades have been, these new sweeping technological changes will be highly disequalizing, creating superstar teachers, a wider gulf between different groups of students and potentially a winner-take-all educational system. In this paper, we argue that, these important concerns notwithstanding, a major impact of the superstars created by web-based educational technologies will be the democ- ratization of education: not only will educational resources be more equally distributed, but also lower-skilled teachers will be winners from this technology. At the root of our results is the observation that for web-based technologies to exploit the comparative advantage of skilled lecturers, they will need to be complemented with opportunities for face-to-face discussions with instructors, and web-based lectures will increase the quantity and quality of teaching services complementary to such instruction, potentially increasing the marginal product and wages of lower-skill teachers. Still Preliminary and Incomplete. 1. Introduction Educational resources distributed via the Internet are rapidly proliferating. These new re- sources include lecture videos, on-line teaching notes, Internet chat groups, on-line interactive problem sets with instantaneous feedback/grading, educational games, and many other de- veloping technologies. Numerous institutions have created fully autonomous software that grades student essays.1 In the popular press, MOOC’s(massive open on-line courses) have received the most fanfare, though the social value of these courses is as yet unproven and the high drop-out rates (in excess of 90%) have been fodder for much debate (see Ahmad et Date: December 26, 2013. -
Variable-Time-Preference-He-Et-Al.Pdf
Cognitive Psychology 111 (2019) 53–79 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cognitive Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cogpsych Variable time preference ⁎ T Lisheng Hea, , Russell Golmanb, Sudeep Bhatiaa,1 a University of Pennsylvania, United States b Carnegie Mellon University, United States ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: We re-examine behavioral patterns of intertemporal choice with recognition that time pre- Decision making ferences may be inherently variable, focusing in particular on the explanatory power of an ex- Intertemporal choice ponential discounting model with variable discount factors – the variable exponential model. We Stochastic choice provide analytical results showing that this model can generate systematically different choice Preference variability patterns from an exponential discounting model with a fixed discount factor. The variable ex- Computational modeling ponential model accounts for the common behavioral pattern of decreasing impatience, which is typically attributed to hyperbolic discounting. The variable exponential model also generates violations of strong stochastic transitivity in choices involving intertemporal dominance. We present the results of two experiments designed to evaluate the variable exponential model in terms of quantitative fit to individual-level choice data. Data from these experiments reveal that allowing for a variable discount factor significantly improves the fit of the exponential model, and that a variable exponential model provides a better account of individual-level choice probabilities than hyperbolic discounting models. In a third experiment we find evidence of strong stochastic transitivity violations when intertemporal dominance is involved, in accordance with the variable exponential model. Overall, our analytical and experimental results indicate that exponential discounting can explain intertemporal choice behavior that was supposed to be beyond its descriptive scope if the discount factor is permitted to vary at random. -
Time Preference and Economic Progress
Alexandru Pătruți, 45 ISSN 2071-789X Mihai Vladimir Topan RECENT ISSUES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Alexandru Pătruți, Mihai Vladimir Topan, Time Preference, Growth and Civilization: Economic Insights into the Workings of Society, Economics & Sociology, Vol. 5, No 2a, 2012, pp. 45-56. Alexandru Pătruti, PhD TIME PREFERENCE, GROWTH AND Candidate Bucharest University of Economic CIVILIZATION: ECONOMIC Science Department of International INSIGHTS INTO THE WORKINGS Business and Economics Faculty of International Business OF SOCIETY and Economics 6, Piata Romana, 1st district, ABSTRACT. Economic concepts are not mere ivory 010374, Romania tower abstractions disconnected from reality. To a +4.021.319.19.00 certain extent they can help interdisciplinary endeavours E-mail: [email protected] at explaining various non-economic realities (the family, education, charity, civilization, etc.). Following the Mihai Vladimir Topan, insights of Hoppe (2001), we argue that the economic PhD Lecturer concept of social time preference can provide insights – Bucharest University of Economic when interpreted in the proper context – into the degree Science Department of International of civilization of a nation/region/city/group of people. Business and Economics More specifically, growth and prosperity backed by the Faculty of International Business proper institutional context lead, ceteris paribus, to a and Economics diminishing of the social rate of time preference, and 6, Piata Romana, 1st district, therefore to more future-oriented behaviours compatible 010374, Romania with a more ambitious, capital intensive structure of +4.021.319.19.00 production, and with the accumulation of sustainable E-mail: [email protected] cultural patterns; on the other hand, improper institutional arrangements which hamper growth and Received: July, 2012 prosperity lead to an increase in the social rate of time 1st Revision: September, 2012 preference, to more present-oriented behaviours and, Accepted: Desember, 2012 ultimately, to the erosion of culture.